1950 Champions Cup

The 1950 Champions Cup was the 4th official Champions Cup game, the deciding game(s) of the NERC season. This installment was played between the The Bronx Bears and New York Knights, who were both looking for their first title. The Bears were making their second consecutive appearance, after losing to the Buffalo Panthers in 1949. On the other hand, the Knights played in the unofficial 1946 game, but fell to the Hempstead Clippers.

The Bears ended up winning their first Champions Cup title, barely fending off a late charge by the Knights.

Opening
It was a beautiful day for Runty on August 5, 1950. Clear skies, moderate temperature, and a cool breeze made New York Runty Park seem like a dreamland as the Bronx Bears and New York Knights took the field. It was the first time the Champions Cup was being played between two New York teams in the heart of the city, so the stadium was roaring throughout. It was a game that the whole city seemed to stop and watch. At NYRP, the crowd was pretty much split half-and-half between Bears and Knights fans, with little neutral fans in attendance.

First Quarter
The game had a pretty high pace to start. Both teams had some good rushes, and got some shots, though all were pretty easily dealt with by the defenders, rucks and rovers. Victor Kattie had the first Grade-A chance of the game getting a shot from 10 feet in front, but hit the crossbar. The pace died down a little as they neared the halfway mark, and there was still no score. Despite this, it was still pretty entertaining, and the tension was building up towards the game’s first score. Eventually, with just under 9 minutes to go, the Bears’ Ray Paulo punched a cross past Edward L’Estrange, putting the Bronx up 4-0. Off the next rush, they would come right back and get a point, much to the delight of their faithful. However, the Knights would come right back and get a point of their own on the ensuing rush, the third consecutive rush to end with a score. The pace continued to grow for the remainder of the quarter, and there were some more great chances from both sides. Unfortunately for neutral fans, none of those resulted in any further scoring. After 24 minutes, the score was 5-1, with all three scores happening within 49 seconds of each other.

AFTER 1: The Bronx 5-1 New York

Second Quarter
The second quarter saw more scoring consistency. 6:26 in, the Knights got their second point of the game, a blazing shot from Kattie. However, Kattie was noticeably frustrated after the score as he was aiming for a game-tying goal. To make matters worse for the Knights, The Bears would kick another goal and point before the halfway mark of the quarter, putting them up 10-2. The Knights would come back with some rushes, but the Bears backline did a good job at not letting them get any super dangerous chances. Eventually, with 6:40 to play in the half, the Bears’ Benoit Peak would score a beautiful goal, grabbing a rolling ball off the ground and smashing a shot past L’Estrange into the top left corner of the goal. This increased the Bears’ lead to 12, and the game started looking like it was gonna be a blowout. The pace to end the half was pretty slow, both teams got some low-danger shots away, but the only score was a point from New York’s Mickey Julien. As the half drew to a close, the Bears were looking pretty comfortable up by 3 goals, since their defense was suffocating the Knights’ 2nd-ranked offense.

AT THE HALF: The Bronx 14-2 New York

Third Quarter
Even though the game was looking pretty hopeless for them, the Knights weren’t giving up, and they started the second half with fierce pressure. Two minutes in, they got their first score in almost a quarter, but it was another point, not the goal that they needed to get back into the game. Once again, the Bears made the Knights pay for the minor score by getting another goal, this time from Cedric Ekling. The Bronx was now up 18-3, and their fans were loving every minute of it. On the other side, the Knights were already looking defeated, but they were still trying to get some semblance of hope back. The Bears continued to stand tall, and slowed the game pace down with a partial defensive press. Eventually, the pace would rise back up, and Kattie would finally give the Knights their first goal after 63:49 of play, roughly two-thirds of the game. This gave New York some life, and they got some more chances before the quarter ended, but no further scoring. Heading into the final quarter, it was going to be a tough 11-point hill for the Knights to climb, but they had momentum on their side.

AFTER 3: The Bronx 18-7 New York

Fourth Quarter
The Knights started the fourth quarter hot. Under 2 minutes in, Julien punched the ball into a wide-open net, putting the Knights within 7. The Bears, realizing now that their lead was in trouble, played even tighter defensively, and did well at stopping Knights rushes for the remainder of the first half of the quarter. At the midway point, the Knights would get another point, but the Bears responded quickly to keep it at a 7-point game. Eventually, the Knights would get another point from Kattie, then a penalty goal from fullback Rocky Moss. With 3:29 to play, it was a 2-point game. However, that didn’t last for long, as Benoit Peak just dribbled a shot past L’Estrange to put the Bears up by two scores. The unbelievable action didn’t stop there, as the Knights came right back and got another goal, this time a thunderous kick from RHF Tim Busby. It was a 2-point game once again, with one minute remaining. The Knights won the jump-ball, brought the ball to the Bears’ end, and gave the ball to Kattie. He wound up for a 20-yard shot, but it hit the outside-left post and went out for a goal kick. Jim McConnell kicked back out to midfield, and the final whistle went. Half of the NYRP erupted, while the other half saluted the Knights for a hard-fought game where they fell just short. Despite being outscored 18-5 in the final 36 minutes, The Bronx Bears had survived, and won their first ever Champions Cup. FINAL SCORE: The Bronx 23-21 New York